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China in $58m deal with Zim
21/04/2007 20:18 - (SA)
Harare - The Chinese government has given Zimbabwe a $58m financing facility that will be used to purchase farming equipment, implements and tools, a cabinet minister said.
Under the deal, China's CAMC Engineering will supply various agricultural equipment including 424 tractors, 65 dumper trucks, 40 heavy duty harrows and eight bulldozers.
"The total loan facility granted by the People's Republic of China is 58 million US dollars," Joseph Made, minister for agricultural engineering said during the official handover of some of the equipment and tools.
The ceremony in the capital was also attended by President Robert Mugabe and Jia Qinglin, chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CAMC).
In return for the help with its struggling agriculture, Zimbabwe will deliver 110 000 tons of tobacco to China over two years, Made said.
The two countries also signed three separate agreements related to finance, agriculture and education.
Zimbabwe and China have relations dating back to Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation struggle when Beijing provided arms and training to the black nationalist movement fighting the white minority government of Ian Smith.
The friendship was rekindled when Mugabe, shunned by former friends in the West over the political crisis in his country, adopted a "Look East" policy forging stronger ties with countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
- AFP
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